Ourea
The Ourea were primordial Greek deities that personified the mountains. Photograph of a mountain valley in Metsovo, Greece (2016).
Jason BlackeyeUnsplashOverview
The Ourea were primordial gods who personified the mountains. They were born to Gaia, the goddess of the earth, at the beginning of the cosmos, along with their brothers Uranus (the sky) and Pontus (the sea). But unlike Uranus and Pontus, the Ourea had no mythology; they were “clearly just a feature of the landscape.”[1]
Etymology
The name “Ourea” (Greek Οὔρεα, translit. Ourea) is simply the plural form of ouros, the Greek word meaning “mountain.” The word itself is usually thought to come from the Indo-European root *h₃er-, meaning “rise.”[2]
Pronunciation
English
Greek
Ourea Οὔρεα (translit. Ourea) Phonetic
IPA
[OOR-ee-uh] /ˈʊr i ə/
Alternate Names
The Ourea were sometimes called by their Latin name, “Montes.”
Family
According to Hesiod’s, Theogony, the Ourea were the children of Gaia (“Earth”), who gave birth to them on her own. They emerged when Gaia “brought forth long hills, graceful haunts of the goddess Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills.”[3]